Heavenly Rebirth: The Outcast Return

Thrown Into the Abyss

Chapter 1: Thrown Into the Abyss

The night was supposed to be a celebration.

Flames from a thousand lanterns danced across the sky, and the disciples of the Crimson Cloud Sect raised their cups in honor of one man — Xuan Long, the youngest to ever reach Core Formation in sect history.

But not tonight.

Tonight, the cheers were gone. The lanterns were dimmed. The man once called a genius now knelt in chains, bruised and bloodied, at the steps of the Sect Hall.

"You dare to poison the Grand Elder and steal the Soul Jade?" Elder Jin roared, voice echoing like thunder across the stone chamber. "What defense have you, traitor?"

Xuan Long looked up slowly, blood dripping from his lips. His once-gleaming black robes were torn, and his raven hair hung in tangles.

"I didn't do it."

"Lies!" spat another elder.

But the voice that crushed him the most came from the woman he loved.

"You planned it all, didn’t you, Long’er?" whispered Mei Lin, her silver robes untouched, her tone like frost. “You even asked me to retrieve the Soul Jade for your 'breakthrough.' I was foolish to trust you.”

His heart cracked.

"Lin... you know I would never—"

"Silence!" Sect Master Han descended the steps. A man revered as the guardian of the Eastern Peaks, his presence alone made the air tighten.

"You were once my pride, Long’er. But even pride can rot. You are hereby stripped of your title, expelled from the sect, and sentenced to death by Abyssfall."

A collective gasp filled the chamber.

Even the abyss?

That was worse than death. No one returned from that place — a chasm so deep it was said to pierce into the underworld itself.

"But I—"

Before Xuan Long could speak, a foot slammed into his back. He collapsed, coughing blood.

"Chain him!" a guard barked.

He didn’t resist. What was there to fight for? His brothers, his elders, even his lover… had turned on him.

As the guards dragged him toward the cliff, Xuan Long kept his eyes open. Memorizing every face.

Especially hers.

“I will return,” he swore in silence, “and when I do… you’ll all kneel.”

The wind screamed as he plummeted.

Stone walls whipped past in a blur of darkness. The world twisted, and he fell for what felt like hours. He passed broken roots, ruined temples carved into the cliffside, and finally—

Boom.

His body slammed against jagged rock, shattering bone. Pain exploded. Blood poured. But he didn’t die.

No… death would have been mercy.

He lay there, broken and blind, surrounded by thick fog that smelled of rot and decay.

So this… is the Abyss.

Xuan Long tried to move, but even breathing was agony.

From somewhere deep within the shadows, something… stirred.

"Still alive?" came a voice, not spoken, but echoed inside his skull. "Interesting."

He froze.

“Who’s there?”

The fog shifted. From the darkness emerged a faint, ghostly figure — tall, armored in black, with silver runes etched into his chestplate. His eyes glowed like dying stars.

“I am the one who waits. The last soul bound to this cursed place.”

Xuan Long coughed. “Another dead spirit?”

“Not just any spirit,” the ghost rumbled. “I was once Xie Wutian, the War Immortal. Betrayed, sealed, and left to rot here for ten thousand years.”

The name sent a jolt through Xuan Long's mind. He’d read of Xie Wutian — a legend whose cultivation had surpassed mortality. A monster… a god.

“What do you want from me?”

The spirit grinned, fangs flashing.

“You’re dying. But your hatred… it burns. I like that. Make a pact with me. Let me anchor myself to your soul. In return, I’ll give you power. Forbidden knowledge. Revenge.”

Xuan Long hesitated. His heart thundered.

Power… at a price.

He thought of Mei Lin’s cold eyes. Of the elders’ betrayal. Of the pain.

“I accept.”

The War Immortal plunged his hand into Xuan Long’s chest.

Agony. Fire. Screams.

Runes blazed across his veins. Bones cracked, then reforged. His body was no longer his — it was being remade. Transformed.

Then… silence.

When Xuan Long opened his eyes, the fog parted.

He stood. Whole. Taller. Stronger. His senses were sharper — every breath, every sound, every flicker of light was clear.

He was no longer a broken disciple.

He was something else.

"Now," Xie Wutian’s voice echoed in his mind, “we climb.”

Days passed. He devoured spiritual beasts. He absorbed the energy of forgotten altars. His cultivation, once crippled, now surged beyond limits.

But the Abyss was not done with him.

As he neared the halfway point back to the surface, he saw it.

A giant stone gate, buried within the cliff.

A whisper called to him from within.

"Your fate begins here."

He pressed his hand against the gate.

It opened.

Darkness poured out — and with it, a single floating jade pendant shaped like a dragon’s eye.

His mother had once worn one just like it.

But she died when he was ten… or so he thought.

Suddenly, memories flooded back — a hidden chamber, his mother sealing something into his blood… a warning: “When you awaken, they will hunt you.”

“Xuan Long,” the War Immortal said darkly, “your enemies are more than just your sect. What’s in your blood… is older than even I can name.”

Before he could speak, the ground rumbled.

From behind, a massive serpent-like demon burst from the abyss, hissing with hunger.

Xuan Long turned, eyes glowing red.

This time, he didn’t run.

Heaven didn’t want him. Hell couldn’t hold him.

Now the abyss had awakened a monster — and he was climbing back.